Another
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Prequel to the First. Del Frye discovers after nearly 30 years of hell after losing the ' strength,' another man who becomes a creature.


**I don't own the Incredible Hulk TV series, I would never do such a thing to disrespect the memory of Bill Bixby. Based when Del Frye read the article of the Hulk in the National Register.**

**Another.**

Del Frye hated his life, as he worked on the grounds of the Clive house under the employ of Elizabeth Colins, who wanted this place to look as grand as it had since the day Clive had died. He didn't need to worry about somebody coming; no one in the town aside from him had the courage to even come within half a mile of the place, let alone go inside the house and come out without a scratch. As he worked on potting the plants to give him some closure, not to mention something meaningful to do with his life, not much of one, but it was something to do, Frye looked back on his life, bitterness rising in his thin and frail chest.

For nearly 30 years, Frye had had to contend with his ailing and pathetic body, and it seemed to be falling apart with every second, and now he was suffering from arthritis in both hands, which were becoming gnarled everyday like the roots of an oak tree. His work as keeper of the Clive house, no one else would touch the place, even to put it up for sale. Del often sneered at them for their assumption that the place was haunted or some crap like that, but even he had to admit to himself, and to Elizabeth Collins, the woman he'd loved for years, and was Clive's fiance, the house had a reputation, and that reputation kept the place safe for fear. Del's reason to the townfolk for why he continuously, religiously kept the place looking spick and span was a mystery - for the bastard bullies who'd made his life hell since they were kids, it was 'cause he had nothing else to do, he had no real friends, and he kept himself to himself, which suited Del just fine. For Elizabeth, it was possibly because he was as close to Dr. Clive as she'd been, and he was merely honouring his late boss.

Del snorted at their beliefs.

He had little respect for Clive, he stayed at the house because it was a retreat. The grounds gave him ample work to do, but inside the house was the equipment that had changed Frye's outlook.

With Clive, Frye had discovered, to Frye's horror, that he suffered from a blood disease, of which there was no known conventional cure. But Clive had developed a process Frye barely understood. All he knew was it involved those weird glowing panels on the roof of the Clive house. Clive strapped him down to a bench, saying he was experimenting with radiation as a means of treatment, at the time Frye had decided what had he to lose? He'd no real family, no prospects...the only thing he regretted was not being able to finally get one on his enemies. The thought of the scum in town who'd bullied him for years made Frye scowl fiercely in fury.

Del shook himself out of his anger, it would do no good since he no longer had The Strength, as he'd called it. In the 1950s, the world had began to fear the words ' atomic, radiation, fallout,' not that Frye could blame them. He remembered vividly, as though it was yesterday, the aftermath of World War two, when the awesome power of two atom bombs levelled two Japanese cities, stopping the war at last. Where scientists were constantly looking for ways to develop new and more powerful weapons of mass destruction, others were looking to create energy sources, spanking new kinds of medicine, and they succeeded. America had lead the world in nuclear physics, developed the first reactors, and Clive was the first scientists to use radiation to make him strong.

Frye hated thinking about the memory of the exposure, he hadn't felt any different when he'd come off the table, and he'd thought it was a waste of time and Clive had advised him to take it easy.

" This is a new treatment Del, its bound to take time to feel the effects, " Clive had told him when Del had been, understandably less than happy when he'd felt no different. " Give it time."

As it turns out Clive was right, because the effects were felt the very next day. Del stopped what he was doing with the flower pot, remembering how he'd gotten out of bed normally, done his usual chores before coming to work at the lab, where Clive had him move some stuff, only to hurt his back.

His anger had shot through; anger at the pain he felt, his pathetic body, the work...and then...THE STRENGTH!

Del remembered how his body had burned with energy, for the first time in his life, and then he'd felt incredibly strong. For the next few days, he'd listened to Clive, who'd told him he'd transformed somehow into some kinda creature, green all over, incredibly strong. Del had no power over the creature, his mind seemed to blank out. One moment he was in the grounds of the house, the next...he was in the woods, his shirt ripped and shoes missing, but he was himself. And better, he felt healthier than he'd ever done before!

Clive had been amazed, excited even, but he had been cautious, and at the time Frye hadn't really paid much attention to Clive, but he did pay attention later whilst his employer was making notes, and experiments on samples of blood taken from Del. Frye had been the thing for close around a week, and then he picked a fight with that dumb bully Frank Townson. He had it coming, always picking on him. Anyway, he'd gotten mad, he'd changed, and an hour later he found out the creature had killed Townson. To say Del had been overjoyed was an understatement, but Clive wasn't. He had Del come back to the lab, and he'd injected Del with something, and then he was strapped down to the table, unable to move for two days. Two days! Then whenever he grew mad, he didn't change. The strength, the greatest gift in Del Frye's sad, and hateful life, was gone. He tried to get it back, but a few days after Townson had died, the townfolk came to the house and harassed Clive, who collapsed and died two days later. Del, deciding to wait, went back to the shadows.

When the thing had gone, no one had forgotten about it - who could? Townson had been murdered, Clive was considered a killer. Perfect cover for Frye, but he couldn't make heads or tail of what Clive had done, how he'd done it. He couldn't understand the lab equipment, make it work, and he couldn't get the Strength back.

During the next 26 years, 26 miserable years, his body failing again, and the bullies driving him mad, and going from one employer to another, Frye led a kinda double life - he would work, then he would go back to the Frye house, and spend his time working there behind Elizabeth's and everyone elses backs so then he could keep the place running. For 26 years he worked, worked hard to keep everything working, knowing that somehow, someday, he would get the Strength back again. As the years passed, though, he began to lose his hope.

One thing, though kept him sane aside from thoughts of Elizabeth becoming his wife, scum like Brad Wheeler being torn apart. If Clive could make an experiment like that, then so could someone else.

Someone else.

Frye shook his head and worked.

Del hated going to the store to pick up groceries, but he had no choice, not if he wanted to eat. He grabbed a paper whilst he was at it, though he didn't look at the front page. When he got home, he started to make himself some chicken soup with fresh bread as a side dish, with some stewed apples and condensed milk for afters. As he prepared his meal, Del glowered angrily at the mundanity of his home. He deserved better than this. When he'd finished cooking, he took his meal to the table, and as he draped the napkin over himself, he reached for the paper.

He sneered. The National Register, what a pathetic paper, nothing but rubbishy stories, but the headlines stopped him in his tracks.

HULK DESTROYS LAB

As he read the article, by that idiot Jack McGee, Frye felt excitement grow inside him as he read the story of how Dr.'s David Banner and Elaine Marks had died in a fire at a lab, and the last thing McGee saw was a huge manlike creature, incredibly strong, and already sighted by two eyewitnesses, a man and a girl out camping in the woods nearby, of a huge figure, green all over, and so strong he broke in half a rifle and topped over a tree with his bare hands, and smashed up a car.

Anyway, Del read, they found Marks in the woods, but the creature was not seen again. Now there was a manhunt for the thing, $10,000 reward had been put on it.

Del ignored that, details, all that grabbed his attention was the excitement. At last, at long last, someone else had become a thing, gained the strength, and if he read correctly Banner and Marks were both dead, and the person who became the thing would probably feel distraught about it, but they would need to cure it.

He would subscribe to the Register, and collect all the facts. The thing would probably show up again.

Del was right. As he collected paper after paper, he tore stories out of the Hulk, as they called it, out. For nearly three years, he watched listened, and waited, as the Hulk seemed to rampage through the country, like a rhino stampeding through the African savannagh - appeared in front of thousands of people at a football match, before McGee discovered, to his shock but to Frye's lack of surprise - it was bound to happen sooner or later, the reporter chasing the Hulk through the country - that the Hulk was a man who went through a transformation. With the help of the library, Frye discreetly charted the Hulks progress through the country. This ' John Doe,' as McGee called him, was making a course that would, eventually take him pretty close to the town. Del knew the Clive story had filtered round this part of the country, just as he knew the guy who had the same strength he had once had, would want to cure himself. To the untrained eye, but to Frye it was obvious the guy wanted to be cured, the number of labs the thing was seen, like that time with the earthquake, was proof of that.

He had to get ready.

He had to get the strength back, maybe even force the other Hulk to get it for him.

* * *

Frye hid himself as he heard the kids brother go, " Oh, god," before rushing out. Del sweated, kicking himself for leaving that light on in the window. It was his own fault, for leaving the lights on carelessly. Now the cops, the sheriff, everyone would be focused on the Clive house once again, and he would once again watch in fear in case some of the more easily scared fools in the town decided to burn the place to the ground.

Frye needn't have worried about it, the people in the town were now so scared of the thing coming back they left the place alone.

A year later, Frye met a young man, determined to see Clive's research. Since no one else had bothered, Frye was convinced he was talking to the man who became the Hulk.

**My first, and hopefully, not the last Hulk story. What did you think?**


End file.
